April Is National Poetry Month!
Below are a few activities to help introduce poetry to your classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's Poem Day!
By Ellen Booth Church
- Grades: Early Childhood, PreK–K, 1–2
One trick to getting children involved with poetry is to give poetry its own special day of the week! You can choose any day and use your circle time as the place to introduce the poems with fun and gusto. Write a poem on chart paper and use a special prop — a "poem hat," puppet, or costume — to capture the children's attention. Remember to practice the poem before you perform it with the same dramatic elements that you would use in reading a story. Children will be enthralled by your performance and will want you to do it over and over again. And you can! Poems said at group time can be repeated throughout the day.
Here is one of my Poem Day favorites from Great Britain:
Dickery, Dickery, DareChildren love this silly rhyme and how easy it is to create their own versions of it. Invite them to suggest what else would be silly to see fly in the air. (Flying whales? A buffalo? A crocodile?) Add one to the poem and say it again.
Dickery, dickery, dare,
The pig flew up in the air!
The man in brown
Soon brought him down!
Dickery, dickery, dare
Extension Activity:Make copies of the "Poem Day" poems each week so children can save them in a cherished poetry journal. They will delight in adding their own illustrations and rhymes to the collection throughout the year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Playing With Poetry
By Early Childhood Today Editorial Staff
- Grades: PreK–K
Playing With Poetry
From the rhythm of the lines to the joy of playing with words, poetry weaves a special kind of magic. Children love the playfulness of poetry and are natural poets, putting words together in new and unusual ways every day. Whether they hear a poem read aloud or write their own, children are learning about language - and about themselves and others.
Share a variety of poetry. A classic nursery rhyme, with its enchanting rhythm and fascinating characters, is a great addition to any group time. Other wonderful poetry can be found in the many anthologies for children, from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (Oxford) to A Child's Treasury of Poems by Mark Daniel (Dial). Children will also enjoy a number of modern poems not necessarily written for young readers.
Make poetry a part of your routine. As children listen to and create poems, they learn to recognize and duplicate beats, patterns, and rhythms - important math skills. And making their own poems builds children's language skills and vocabulary.
Celebrate children's spontaneous poetry. Children make poetry almost every time they engage in creative play. Place a tape recorder in the dramatic-play area or the art center, and record children's conversations. At the end of the day, listen to the tape and write down the best lines. Then share with children the wonderful poetry they created - without even trying
This article originally appeared in the February, 1998 issue of Early Childhood Today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few spring poems to bring excitement in the air!
Allow your children to create there own poems by changing out the wording in some of the poems. Make it fun and enjoyable!
“Spring Poem” by Sharon Siegelman [1]
Some days seem like winter,
Some are nice and warm.
Rainy days and windy days,
Maybe it will storm.
Warm or cold or wet or dry,
What will the weather be?
I think Spring is trying to play
Peek-a-boo with me
“The Garden” by Betty [1]
First you take a shovel, a rake, and a hoe
Plant a little garden, Plant seeds in a row
Water them and weed them through all the summer heat
And then you’ll have some flowers or vegetables to eat.
“Caterpillar” by Christina Rossetti [2]
Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.
“Spring Has Sprung” by Unknown [2]
Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’,
I wonder where the birdie is?
There he is up in the sky,
He dropped some whitewash in my eye!
I‘m alright, I won’t cry,
I’m just glad that cows can’t fly!
“Spring Rain” by Marchette Chute [2]
The storm came up so very quick
It couldn’t have been quicker.
I should have brought my hat along,
I should have brought my slicker.
My hair is wet, my feet are wet,
I couldn’t be much wetter.
I fell into a river once
But this is even better.
“The Beautiful Spring” by George Cooper [3]
“I was here first,” said the snowdrop: “look!”
“Not before me!” sang the silver brook.
“Why,” cried the grass, “I’ve been here a week!”
“So have I, dear,” sighed a violet meek.
“Well,” piped a bluebird, “don’t leave me out!
I saw the snow that lay round about.”
“Yes,” chirped a snowbird, “that may be true;
But I’ve seen it all the bleak winter through.”
“I came betimes,” sang the southwind, “I!”
“After me, love!” spake the deep blue sky.
“Who is it cares?” chimed the crickets gay:
“Now you are here, let us hope you’ll stay.”
Whispered the sun, “Lo! the winter’s past:
What does it matter who’s first or last?
Sky, brooks, and flowers, and birdies that sing,
All help to make up the beautiful spring.”
“Caterpillar” by Unknown [4]
Fuzzy wuzzy caterpillar
Crawling all about
Would you b a real good friend
And help a fellow out?
My shoes get scuffed and dirty
When I go out to play
So slide yourself across my
Shows and brush the dirt away
“Welcome Butterfly” by Unknown [4]
Small white egg upon a leaf
The hours hurry by,
Caterpillar eat our fill
Or you will surely die
Sleepy now and very fat
On a twig you lie
Cosy in you soft cocoon
Now welcome, butterfly
Resources
- Source: Everything Preschool
- Source: DLTK’s
- Source: Apples for the Teacher
- Source: Craftbits.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetry Friday: Here’s a Little Poem (collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters)
Here’s a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry (collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters) would make a nice addition to a family or preschool class library. The anthology is divided into 4 sections—self, family (including pets), outdoors, and bedtime. The poems focus on daily activities, relationships, and observations from a young child’s perspective. I adore Polly Dunbar’s illustrations. Most pages depict several visual “scenes” from the poems in vivid colors and lively actions. Many of the poems are from beloved poets and authors, such as Lee Bennett Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Marilyn Singer, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Here are a couple of my favorites.
“Dressing Too Quickly” (by Jill Townsend)
Too many buttons.
What a long zip.
Velcro to fasten.
Mind you don’t slip.
Dress more slowly.
You’ll fall in a minute!
You’ve one trouser leg
And two legs in it.
“After A Bath” (by Aileen Fisher)
After my bath
I try, try, try
to wipe myself
till I’m dry, dry, dry.
Hands to wipe
and finger and toes
and two wet legs
and a shiny nose.
Just think how much
less time I’d take
if I were a dog
and could
shake, shake, shake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please visit my Pinterest Page where you will find many other exciting Poetry activities to incorporate into your classroom.
